This is both my personal learning project and my contribution in the struggle to confront the ongoing Republican/ libertarian assault on rational science and constructive learning, as manifested in their malicious strategic Attacks on Science ~ A collection of articles, scientific resources, plus my own essays and indepth critique of various presentations from unidirectional-skeptics ~ Hopefully a resource for the busy, yet discerning, student who's concerned about the health of our Earth

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Sunday, October 15, 2017

Considering a contrarian’s “Global Warming Pathways”

Mikie the Contrarian writes:

What I see is there are (two) separate Global Warming pathways going on at the same time. ...

But first. Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose. Though I only had a lifetime of self-study regarding our marvelous planet and its processes and history under my belt, I still felt qualified enough to put in hundreds of hours directly confronting contrarian claims with rational arguments, backed by copious links to more authoritative sources for real learning opportunities.

Various impulses drove this passion, since I’m basically self taught it provided me with great personal learning challenges. I’ll admit to dreaming of winning over some contrarian, though more important was a desire to produce substantive study guides to help jump start interested students to engage in their own efforts of public debate and standing up to the massive malicious astroturfing going on.

I’d also hoped to network with like minded citizens who resented the nonstop transparent lies as much as I do and who were likewise motivated to engage in the public “debate.”

I’m aware that with over a decade of blogging all I have to show for my efforts is a good deal of self-education which is satisfaction in itself, but still never any substantive connections that would help me improve my work, nor any sort of organizing a bit of intellectual confrontationalism against all the malicious deception being astroturfed everywhere.

Seems everyone rather keep it polite and play by the contrarian handbook.

Yet, it’s 2017, and it seems that despite all that has unfolding in past years and again this year not a damned thing has been learned by so-called conservatives and the GOP in general, heck the Democratic liberals themselves remain stunned and clueless as ever.

So, what’s the point at this point? This blog will continue, but rather than trying to imagine connecting with anyone out there, I think for a while I need to try writing with myself as the intended audience, since it feels like I must write about what I’m witnessing from my unique perch. If only to help me cope with the onslaught of destruction I once feared and that we are now witnessing - and that we’ve caused. See what I can learn from that.

I’d be a liar if I said I wasn't interested in folks looking in, or connecting with real people of passion and appreciation for this mother Earth that created us, nurtured and sustains us and that we will dissolve back into once our time is up. People who believe the juvenile sociopathic myths perpetuated by the climate science contrarian machine need to be directly intellectually confronted and even harassed to death. I simply fear they aren’t out there.

Mikie the Contrarian writes:What I see is there are to separate Global Warming pathways going on at the same time.

The one used by the scientists of facts. And the other used by the consensual science and political science group. One group has all the money in the world, the other has to work the in quite method of not shaking the boat or pissing off the group with the money and political backing.

CC responds: Yes grasshopper, there are many pathways, …

There is one physical Global Warming pathway unfolding.

It’s controlled by thermodynamics and the geophysics of the matter.

Greenhouse gases hold a key regulating position in this process.

The physics is understood in exquisite detail.

In the day to day world we are becoming ever more familiar the current transitional weather regime’s destructive realities,

namely cascading consequences such as the California fires,

and the past ten hurricanes in ten weeks, not to mention what’s happening in the rest of the world.

The longer term future of that trajectory will be impacted by how much greenhouse gases are ultimately added to our atmosphere, although nothing will change our short term momentum and I fear its going to knock us off our pins.

There is one scientific pathway, the map makers.

Observing, recording and understanding what is going on within natural processes.

It’s been pursued for centuries now and the results are a coherent internally consistent understanding, that the likes of Mikie do everything to confuse, dismiss and avoid looking at.

A summation is clearly spelled out and open for constructive honest critique - the IPCC reports. Though the overall evidence is there to be found within decades worth of thousands of papers and observed Earth changes.

Science by insinuation, slander and libel in the service of avoidance.

There is the I’m the one and only religious pathway.

Where all too many people have adopted the incredible notion that they - petty, scared, selfish, self-interested humans that we are - understand the billions of years old “true” God of Time and Creation, Life and Love.

It’s an appalling conceit and indicates a profound disconnection with the real flow of our lives and time and the biosphere that created and sustains us.

It demonstrates an unhealthy self-absorption into one's own mindscape and disconnect from the physical world that surrounds and sustains us.

It’s a terrifying thing to behold because this Faith has allowed them to totally tune out the real physical world, we depend on, to a stupefying extreme.

There is the I want mine pathway of single-minded dedication to consumerism.

Hollyworld Fantasizing, and the proposition that too much is never enough.

This one consists of humans who never evolved past their adolescent me-me, self-interest phase and never matriculated into the adult enlightened-self-interest phase.

Where we think past oneself towards community and cooperation with others for collective and personal benefit. No it's not communism, it's community. An appreciation that none of us knows everything, we all have blind spots, we need each other to keep ourselves honest. That was the great thing about America, we as a people used to understanding that, okay not always.

Very sad to see its truly gone. I can see how that encourages a complete disconnect from all that’s uncomfortable or inconvenient to an easy embrace of facade and fantasy.

It works when you’re a teenager and others covered for you, it doesn't work in the long run. But, seems few learn that anymore, most people are media saturated and there’s little room for true curiosity, learning, contemplation and genuine personal growth.

So profoundly sad. Guess that’s what my writing is really all about, me trying to process this collective insanity so I can continue functioning in a world and beautiful old life that I see dissolving around me. As a high school grad the world was open and beckoning, okay it helped that I was a nice white boy, if broke, but that's means nothing today. The opportunities no longer exist, the innocence and acceptance of strangers has also wilted, everyone is a threat today.

How fortunate I feel to have started down my road less traveled while there was still some time left to experience the last days of Earth being what it had been for all of humanity's rise to society, what a tragedy we wasted all these decades and all that knowledge. We knew, I knew. Why did so many ignore it all these decades? That I will never comprehend, no matter how much I grapple with it.

Message to interested readers, I'm just an outside life long observer and my writing is done in fits and starts with constant short and long interrupts, thus it never surpasses the 'grandma moses' level. But, my information is solid and my reasoning is solid and I welcome anyone with more time and focus, to take anything at WUWTW and use it as a starting point for better efforts that reach more people.

Of course, if anyone were interested in helping me focus more on this, my obvious passion, to see what I could accomplish with the luxury of full-time focus on my side, please do let me.

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES

11/29/2016 I started this blog to debate climate science contrarians, I've done my part, they, the intellectual cowards for their part have run off and hide within their hermetically sealed echo chambers, safe to continue broadcasting more stupidity mixed with anger and hostility rather than constructive learning.

Now this horrendous election. Its changed everything and this blog, not sure where it's going, eventually I need to start another one, one less intent on futility reaching out for what ain't there and more focused on presenting a different perspective for its own sake, and to hell with the rest of it, it's too heart breaking.

I see Dec 19th as a key date. If there isn't serious focused engagement of the public in numbers that surprise everyone, well the oligarch will have their way with us.

Americans need to let Trump know from the gitgo, we do not approve of his con job and he better not get too crazy because he's earned zero good faith or honeymoon considerations. We shall see.

{edited 12/11/2014}

I know there are too many typos, what can I say, eyes aren't what they were, I get rushed, and always did have a thing with transposing…{well, I also hated high school "english" classes... bad call that one.}. Doing the best I can with what I got. Embarrassing though it is, it's better than doing nothing. Besides, it's the issues and reasoning that we should be worrying about.

Though I'm in my own little world here, I'm also constantly learning and evolving and do get occasional feedback and when I reread stuff and find errors or omissions or garbage, I fix it. If it's major I'll acknowledge it with an 'edited' note, minor stuff I don't bother.

~ ~ ~

I hardly keep track of Anthony's latest antics (besides, with Sou on the job why bother - can't beat her insights). It's just me over here and I have more important things to do with my precious hours - still now that Anthony's luster has been wearing thin he's put his energy into discovering and honing new fresh faces to carry on the public show of the Republican/Libertarian strategic attack on science.

He seems to have transitioned into a ring-leader, perhaps mentor/coach would be better, producer? At least that's how Mr. Steele and his antics of the past year has gotten me to think about it. So in that regard this blog remains about WUWT's brand of thinking and logic and my struggle to understand the anatomy of the fraud they've perpetrated against mankind. {December 2014}

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ok, now some recommended websites:

This blog was started in April 2013 and is written by an actual scientist so it has a refreshingly serious objective air to it, plus he does a good clear job of explaining complex issues.

Tamino, an acknowledged statistical/mathematical expert of the highest order, at Open Mind also does an excellent job of holding Anthony’s feet to the fire with clearly explained facts and math. Check it out:http://tamino.wordpress.com~ ~ ~

And of course, there is the excellent, most up to date internet depository of climate studies and information for the non-expert public.

Then there's RealClimate.org the scientist's commentary site. Run by working climate scientists intended to help the interested public and journalists sort through the complexities of the climatology. They provide "quick response to developing stories and provide the context" that is too often missing from public media's depiction. {But, you better be serious and have some real science education/understanding under your belt if you want to keep up.}

I remember back in da day, good websites/blogs were few and far between. But over the past years that's been changing to the point that it's impossible to keep up with them all. Here's an incomplete, and long overdue addition to my above list: